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has anyone read much on it or seen the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary? obviously a pretty famous event in Canadia and America, like, but i hadn't heard about it. fucking staggering stuff. one of the most enjoyable sports documentaries i've seen.

bit of background for the hockey n00bs like myself - best player in the world at the time (and ever), playing in a shit-hot team, local and national hero, gets sold to a cash-rich but pretty rubbish team in LA, ran by a fraudster, for shitloads of money, locals never really recover. guess it'd sort of be like Barca selling Messi to Malaga or something, idk.

really interesting hearing Gretzky speak. both at the time and when talking about it in hindsight, hard to tell whether he really wanted the move or not, or whether he was being pushed into it by his wife or even his dad. seems the contract situation could've been easily resolved with a bit of give and take on either side, even bearing in mind the Oilers financial troubles.

i suspect he enjoyed the trappings, and it sounds like the move had a hugely positive impact on the sport in America, but there's a real sadness in his eyes throughout, idk. probably fair enough to say that as much as he kept up a great personal level after the move, he could and should have won more Stanley Cups had he stayed.

Muhammad & Larry's excellent as well. as is The Two Escobars, and the one about the Duran/Leonard fight.

looking forward to watching...
- Barry Levinson's Baltimore Colts marching band doc
- one by Ice Cube about the Raiders
- one about the night Tupac was shot after a Tyson fight,
- Micael Jordan's baseball season
- weirdly, one about the invention of Fantasy Baseball which sounds pretty ingriguing.

communism and football
fascism and football
frontline football; bosnia & serbia
once in a lifetime; new york cosmos
orient; club for a fiver
storyville - barca; the inside story
the four-year plan
the game of their lives
the other final
the two escobars
zidane

there are some really good boxing documentaries...

assault in the ring
boxing at the movies (bbc)
facing ali
joe louis - america's hero betrayed
ring of fire; the emile griffith story
sugar ray robinson; bright lights and dark shadows
the fight of their lives
the matchstick man
the thrilla in manilla
unforgivable blackness
when we were kings

I always liked the fact that Gretzky personally requested Marty McSorley to go with him. At the Oilers Gretzky always had other highly-skilled guys around him. At the Kings he wouldn't have that and he was always going to have to lead, so having a big, rough enforcer like McSorley around him was a great move.

894 regular season goals, 1,963 assists, 2,857 points (total of goals and assists). Mark Messier in 2nd place has 1,887 points, meaning Gretzky has more assists than Messier has points. That's how far ahead he was.

The most successful sportsperson of all time is the squash player Heather McKay. In her first tournament she dropped 2 matches I think, and then won everything for the rest of her 15 odd year category. Everything she entered she won the tournament without losing a match.

I'd have to look it up, but I think Walter Lindrum was similarly dominant in billiards? I believe he was the reason they changed the rules so you could only do a certain number of cannons in a row, otherwise he could just rack up the points at will.

It's hard to explain how big a deal this was at the time. Grew up in Toronto, was obsessed with hockey and though I was only a young'n I remember being in absolute shock when I heard he'd been traded. The 'promised Mess I wouldn't do this' line from the press conference is probably one of the iconic moments in late 20th Century Canadian history.

When I think about 1987 and Canada Vs USSR. Possibly the most famous hockey fight of all time? I've seen this so many times, and still crack up when they turn the lights off and everyone keeps fighting!

7 players, ca$h money, and two first round picks. That's like Madrid giving spurs a Carling cup first XI, a subs bench and an undisclosed fee and forgoing any decent transfers the following season in exchange for Bale I guess.

traded for six players, two first round picks and $15m cash after lindros refused to play for the nordiques

the trade led to the quebec team becoming an nhl powerhouse when they moved to colorado three years later, with one of the players (peter forsberg) going on to win an MVP trophy, and the vast majority of the players going on to play a part in two stanley cup titles.

lindros never won a stanley cup and never fulfilled his potential due to concussions and a suspect attitude.